Solaris (1972)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1972
	Director: Andrei Tarkowskiy
	Actors: Donatas Banionis, Natalya Bondarchuk, Yuri Yarvet, Anatoliy Solonitsyn
	Country: SU
	Genre: SF
	Conditions of visioning: 09.08.2014, DVD, Russian version with English subtitles
Synopsis: The Solaris mission has established a base on a planet that appears to host some kind of intelligence, but the details are very secret. After the mysterious demise of one of the three scientists on the base, a psychologist (Banionis) is sent out to replace him. He finds the station run-down and the two remaining scientists (Yarvet and Solonitsyn) cold and secretive. When he also encounters his wife Khari (Bondarchuk) who has been dead for ten years, the psychologist changes his opinion on that intelligence.
Review: I find the plot very interesting. This does not only sets questions on extra-terrestrial life, but questions what humans are looking for in their space quest and their open-mindedness about new discoveries. The acting of both main characters is quite, subtle and therefore good for me but the other's not that much. I like that spiritual and society topics are set in an abstract way on the screen, e.g. Mr. Nobody and Mars & Avril. This abstraction makes it, in my opinion, easier to touch everyone. And this might be the strength of Science-Fiction. For Western viewers this movie will remind 2001: A space odyssey from the conceptual directing.  I wanted to watch this movie because of the reputation of Tarkowski and I am quite happy of that. It is a bit slow and the sound track is quite empty, but his ideas gave me motivation to watch more from his work.
Rating: 7 /10